The present invention relates generally to a device which allows determination of the number and identity of objects in a user's stomach and more particularly to a detectable pellet or marker which is mixed with objects such as capsules, caplets, pills, poisons or other hazardous substances which can be detected by use of a fluoroscope, on X-ray film, or by other X-ray techniques while resident in a user's digestive tract.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that when someone has overdosed on drugs, or ingested poisons or other hazardous substances, the attending physician often needs to know the extent and identity of the overdose to determine what treatment, if any, to give the patient or the dosage of antidote to prescribe. It will be further appreciated by those skilled in the art that oftentimes such victims are not able to communicate to the attending physician the number of pills, capsules, or caplets taken or the amount of poison or hazardous substance ingested. This inability to communicate is particularly true in the pediatric and geriatric patients as well as the unconscious; patient. Because of the condition of such victims, the attending physician must be able to determine the quantity of pills taken, or the amount of poison or hazardous substance ingested, without any intrusive procedure such as surgery or endoscopy, which have high attendant risks. It appears, however, that there have been relatively few attempts to develop a system to determine the quantity of pills, or the amount of poison or hazardous substance ingest by an individual.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,550 issued to G. Feldstein on Jun. 23, 1981, discloses a medicant dispensing device. Although this device may discourage the user from taking an overdose of a medicant, the system can not determine how many pills have actually been taken if the pills have been taken from different containers.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,341,417 issued to E. Sinaiko on Sep. 12, 1967, discloses a radiopaque marker which is incorporated into a dosage unit of a drug marketed for oral ingestion. However, the marker must be molded in with the drug material during the actual manufacture of the pill itself.
Each of the prior art approaches requires the maker of the medicant to integrate the radiopaque marker in with the pills during the original manufacturing process. In particular, there is no provision for the; purchaser, or user, of the medication to retroactively mark the pills with a radiopaque substance. Further, there is no discussion in the prior art of a device for marking poisons and other hazardous substances which are not intended to be intentionally ingested in the first place.
What is needed, then, is a device to determine the quantity and identity of materials ingested by a user and which can be retroactively combined with the ingestible material after such ingestible material has been purchased, or otherwise obtained, by the user. This device must be capable of determining the contents of an individual's digestive tract without intrusive procedures. This device must be capable of use with any material such as a caplet, capsule, or pill or with poisons or other hazardous substances. This device is presently lacking in the prior art.
In this application, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that while I describe my invention in terms of detecting pills, capsules, caplets, poisons or other hazardous substances in the digestive tract of a person, my invention is designed to aid in the detection of pills, etc. in animals (particularly dogs, cats, horses and cattle) as well as in humans. Also, the substance can be detected at various locations in the body including the stomach, the esophagus, the intestinal tract or in passage. Lastly, the item to be detected can be any kind of pill, capsule, caplet or their equivalent, or a liquid or powder substance as hereinafter provided.